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Sessions and events

The trading sessions:Asia, London, New York.

The forex day is conventionally split into three trading sessions named after their financial centres: Asia, centred on Tokyo from 09:00 to 18:00 Tokyo time; London, 08:00 to 17:00 London time; and New York, 08:00 to 17:00 New York time. They are market conventions, not official hours, and they overlap at the edges.

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Why the day is divided into sessions

Currencies trade over the counter between banks and dealers around the world rather than on one exchange, so there is no single opening bell. Activity instead follows the business day of the largest centres as it moves west: Sydney and Tokyo first, then London, then New York.

Each centre brings its own participants, its own data releases and its own currencies into the market. That is why the character of price changes through the day - narrower in the Asian hours for most pairs, busiest when London and New York are open together. London alone accounted for 37.8% of global FX turnover in April 2025, the largest share of any centre, according to the Bank of England.

Conventional session hours

Each session is quoted in the local time of its centre, which keeps the convention the same all year on that centre's clock. Converting it to your own clock is where the confusion starts, because the UK, the US and Australia change their clocks and Japan and India do not.

The three main sessions, in local and UK time
SessionLocal conventionUK time, UK winterUK time, UK summer
Asia (Tokyo)09:00-18:00 Tokyo00:00-09:0001:00-10:00
London08:00-17:00 London08:00-17:0008:00-17:00
New York08:00-17:00 New York13:00-22:0013:00-22:00
London / New York overlapBoth open13:00-17:0013:00-17:00

Conventions, not official hours: sources differ by up to an hour at either end. Your GFN account runs on the instrument schedule, not on these. For a few weeks each March and October-November the UK and US clocks are out of step, and New York's hours move an hour earlier in UK time.

How clock changes move the sessions

The UK is on GMT in winter and BST, one hour ahead, from the last Sunday of March to the last Sunday of October. The US runs daylight time from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November. Japan and India keep one time all year.

The practical effect: in India, the Asian session sits at the same IST hours all year, while the London and New York sessions each move by an hour twice a year. In the UK, the Tokyo session moves by an hour; in the US, London's open is usually 03:00 New York time, but 04:00 in the weeks when only one side has changed its clocks.

The overlaps, and why they matter

The London and New York overlap - four hours on the usual convention - is when both of the two largest centres are open, and it is typically the most active stretch for the dollar pairs and for gold. The Tokyo and London overlap is brief, often an hour or less on the conventional hours.

An active period is not the same as an easier one. More participation tends to mean tighter spreads, but also faster moves, and the US data calendar lands at the start of the New York morning, inside the overlap.

Step by step

How to identify it

To place any moment in the trading day, convert from the centre's clock rather than memorising your own-time table, which changes twice a year.

  1. Write down the conventional hours in local time: Tokyo 09:00-18:00, London 08:00-17:00, New York 08:00-17:00.
  2. Check whether the UK and the US are on summer or winter time today, using the clock-change rules above.
  3. Convert each window into your own clock. In India, add IST's fixed offset; in the UK or US, allow for the weeks when the two countries are out of step.
  4. Mark the overlaps: London and New York, and the short Tokyo and London handover.
  5. Check the instrument schedule on your account for its actual trading hours, which can differ from the convention.

Worked example

The concept,walked through

Placing one trading day, described

An illustrative winter weekday, converted into UK time and IST. The hours follow the conventions above; they are not a record of any real day's trading.

  1. 1. AsiaTokyo opens at 09:00 local: 00:00 UK and 05:30 IST. Yen and Australasian pairs are usually the most active.
  2. 2. LondonLondon opens at 08:00 UK, 13:30 IST. Tokyo's conventional session is ending as London starts.
  3. 3. New YorkNew York opens at 08:00 local: 13:00 UK and 18:30 IST. The overlap with London runs until London closes at 17:00 UK, 22:30 IST.
  4. 4. Late New YorkAfter London closes, the afternoon is usually thinner. New York's conventional session ends at 22:00 UK, 03:30 IST the next morning.

The same timetable in summer shifts London and New York an hour earlier in IST, while Asia stays put. Nothing in the timetable says which session a strategy will work in; it only tells you who is likely to be trading.

Common mistakes

Where tradersgo wrong

Using a fixed own-time table all year

A table in IST or US time is only right for part of the year. Convert from the centre's local hours instead.

Treating a convention as a rule

No body sets session hours. Two reputable sources can start London an hour apart; choose one convention and keep to it.

Assuming the busiest session suits every strategy

The overlap is fast. A strategy tested on quiet Asian ranges may behave very differently there.

Forgetting the instrument schedule

Indices and metals have their own hours and breaks. The account's instrument schedule governs, not the session name.

Limitations

What it cannottell you

No chart concept predicts price. These are the limits worth keeping in view.

  • Session boundaries are conventions with no official definition, and activity does not switch on and off at them.
  • How active a session is varies by pair and by day; a holiday in one centre can make its session unusually quiet.
  • Session times say nothing about direction. Any pattern a trader finds in a particular session is specific to their market, rules and period.

In an evaluation

Using it on asimulated account

GFN does not define sessions. Trading hours depend on the instrument and are shown in the instrument information on your account, and the daily loss limit resets at the time shown in your dashboard, which need not match midnight in your own timezone or the start of any session.

The busiest hours carry the scheduled US releases. On a funded GFN account, profits from trades opened or closed within 3 minutes either side of a relevant high-impact release may be removed; see the news trading rule.

Trading rule

When can I trade?

What your account actually runs on: the instrument schedule.

Trading rule

Can I trade the news?

The ±3 minute window around high-impact releases on funded accounts.

Trading rule

What is the daily loss limit?

Resets at the time in your dashboard, not at a session boundary - 3% on Instant and 5% on 1 Step and 2 Step.

Questions

Asked aboutthis concept

Asia, centred on Tokyo from 09:00 to 18:00 Tokyo time; London, 08:00 to 17:00 London time; and New York, 08:00 to 17:00 New York time. They are conventions, and sources differ at the edges.

Usually from 13:00 to 17:00 UK time, which is 08:00 to 12:00 New York time. For a few weeks each spring and autumn the UK and US clocks are out of step and the overlap starts an hour earlier in UK time.

The Asian session does not, because neither Japan nor India changes its clocks. London and New York each move by an hour in IST twice a year, when the UK and the US change their clocks.

Keep learning

Relatedlessons

Sessions and market events

London Session: Times and How It Trades

The session that carries the largest share of forex turnover: its conventional hours, its open, and the overlap with New York.

Sessions and market events

Asian Session: What Time It Opens

When the Tokyo-centred Asian session runs in UK, US and India time, and why its range matters to traders who never trade it.

Sessions and market events

New York Session: Times and What Moves It

The US trading window: its conventional hours, its overlap with London, and the scheduled releases that make its first hours the most volatile.

Smart money concepts (SMC and ICT)

AMD in Trading: Power of Three Explained

The power of three model: a quiet range, a false move against the day's direction, then the real move - and why it only fits in hindsight.

Sources

What this pagerelied on

  1. BIS Triennial Survey of foreign exchange and OTC interest rate derivatives markets in April 2025 - UK data - Bank of England. Retrieved 22 September 2026. The UK's 37.8% share of global FX turnover in April 2025, the largest of any centre.
  2. When do the clocks change? - GOV.UK. Retrieved 23 September 2026. UK clocks: GMT in winter, BST (GMT+1) from the last Sunday of March to the last Sunday of October.
  3. Daylight saving time - National Institute of Standards and Technology. Retrieved 23 September 2026. US daylight time runs from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November.

Educational content only, not investment advice or a recommendation to trade. Chart concepts describe what price has done; none of them predicts what it will do, and trading any strategy can lose money. Get Funded Now accounts are simulated and trade virtual funds. Last reviewed 22 September 2026.

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